Why I need to work part time:

I am home today with the Blakester because she is sick. Well, she is sort of sick. Yesterday she had a cough. Then last night (really this morning) she was up for about two hours tossing and turning and coughing, A LOT. I have to make the decision to stay home early or I won't have a sub. So, at 4:30 I stumble to the computer with no glasses on...can't see a dang thing...and with my face two inches from the screen I enter the info for a sub. I went back to bed then woke up around 7:00 to make sure I had a sub for the day. I did, so I emailed my sub notes and the assignment for the kiddos to another teacher and she took care of the rest. Sometimes being absent is more work than just being there myself.

On to the title of this post. Here are a few reasons I need to work part time:
1. I love my job so I would still like to work.
2. But it would be nice to have a little more time with Blake.
3. I have done 3 loads of laundry.
4. I had breakfast and made coffee.
5. Cleaned up the living room.
6. Cleaned the kitchen.
7. Put all of my laundry away.
8. Blake is down for a nap so I get to check up on blogs.
9. I folded and put away all of Blake's laundry.
10. I am dressed (don't be too impressed, t-shirt and jeans with no make-up) and ready so that when B wakes up we can go to Target.
AND IT'S ONLY 12:00!!!!

This list may not be that impressive to some, but for me, this is pretty good. Now, if I were home all day everyday, I can guarantee I would not be this productive. How do I know??? Uhhhh, I was just home for 3 months this summer and probably did this much in a week (or two).
I even did Ryan's laundry that was sitting on top of the dryer. He came in and said "Are you doing my laundry?" Yes, I am. "Why?" So you can see how useful I would be if I stayed home part time. "That's what I thought."

A Blake Update

This clock is Blake's nemesis. It lives at Mimi and Paco's house in the kitchen. Everytime she is in the kitchen she keeps a close eye on this crazy kitty clock. Sometimes it makes her cry.

We had a fun visit to Abilene a few weekends ago. We went to a great new restaurant (like a new and improved Fuji's) and went to the fair for a few rides and some funnel cake. Blake experienced her first fair ride with Mimi. She looks a little nervous. I completely understand, Blake. Fair rides scare me. They transform from an 18-wheeler to a ride...and that is supposed to be safe???? Yeah....right....


This is a picture of Blake eating cheerios off of the floor. She also eats Lola's dog food. Awesome. The last one is of an exceptionally messy experience we had one night when Blake decided to touch the spoon before it went in her mouth and then proceeded to rub her nose.
Blake does not actually like this pacifier but if I take her other one away she always seems to find this one. But she only sucks on it upside down. The second picture is of Blake's "tornado."

Today Blake is nine months old. I love you, Blakester!!!!

Her most recent tricks:

*she can say baby- not "baba", she actually says "baby." Not on command, of course.
*she stands up from anywhere in the room. she no longer needs to pull up on things to stand.
*she cries when we drop her off in the mornings. this is my least favorite
*she crawls everywhere
*when she is mad, she crawls and says "mamamamama"
*she smiles all the time but she does not laugh very often
*she gives me sweet, slobbery kisses when I pick her up in the afternoons
*she can say "dada"
*we think she is saying "gog" when we talk to Lola
*she loves her swing in the front yard
*she can wave bye-bye
*she can give you high five but it actually turns in to like 20 or 25

Recipe for Disaster

1 car seat (lightly seasoned)
As I was driving down the Interstate this morning about 15 min from the house and 10 minutes from school I realized that Blake's car seat was in my car and Ryan was at home with Blake.

1 empty jump drive with 2 sides of missing back-up cds
I needed to print a quiz and some notes when I got to school. Two weeks ago my jump drive (with ALL of my stuff from the five years I have been teaching) worked fine. Last week there was nothing on it. My computer was re-imaged one night and my jump drive was in the back... wiped it clean. Luckily I had two back up discs from 2006 and 2007 with most of my stuff. So this morning all I needed to do was get the info off one of the back-up discs. I couldn't find them ANYWHERE....

1 new quiz and a heaping tablespoon of copy machines
I quickly created a new quiz and decided to forget the notes. I get class started and run down to the copy machine to make the copies for the day. I start class about 10 minutes later than usual.

A fresh squeezed open house
As I am frantically making copies I hear our secretary say she is just about finished making copies for tonight's open house. "sh**" I completely forgot about open house.

Roast the five failing pre-ap students in the oven at 300 degrees
After I flew home during my second period conference to take the car seat to Ryan (I actually ended up dropping Blake off since I was going right by her babysitters), I had to come back to school, regroup and prepare to have a serious discussion with my pre-ap class about work ethic... since five of them are failing after two weeks of school.

Cool the car in the rain for a few minutes before attempting to serve
I met Ryan and Blake for supper before open house at seven. When I got back to school it was raining and there were tons of parents there already for 7th grade open house. I parked in the back of the school right by an unlocked door. I hopped out of the car tried to shield my super new leather school bag from the rain and ran to the door. I turned to lock my car and couldn't find my keys anywhere. Why?? Because they were still in the ignition and my car was still on.

Serving size: Big enough to last me for awhile